Nicki Minaj hunting for Tracy Chapman as album waits

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NEW YORK, Aug 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Rapper Nicki Minaj said Wednesday that
she is pushing back her new album as she desperately seeks to reach Tracy
Chapman to clear a sample.

Chapman, the deep-voiced and intensely private folk singer behind socially
conscious songs such as the 1988 classic “Fast Car,” has pulled off the
increasingly rare feat of being nowhere to be found online as Minaj pleaded
via her 20 million followers each on Instagram and Twitter.

In a tweet this week that she later deleted, Minaj wrote that a song on
her upcoming album, “Queen,” features one of “the greatest rappers of all
time” but that she had “no clue it sampled the legend #TracyChapman.”

Minaj, whose album will be her first in four years, proceeded to poll her
followers to ask whether she should delete the track or delay the album.

The latter option apparently won. Writing on her Apple Music account on
Thursday, Minaj said the album would come out August 17. She earlier had
announced it for June and then pushed it back to August 10.

Minaj also posted a text conversation conducted through a fan in which
Chapman is offered $2 million to grant permission in time for an August 10
release.

Chapman, 54, has said that she has no desire to spend time on social
media.

A number of fans voiced offense at Minaj’s full-court push.

“I can’t believe that this is the kind of disrespect that Tracy Chapman is
getting for merely not replying!!” tweeted one user with the handle @nasque.

Minaj did not specify the rapper behind the supposedly obscure Chapman
sample but her praiseworthy tone led fans to think she was referring to
Eminem. The two rappers have suggested in flirtatious public remarks that
they may be romantically involved.

Chris Brown, the singer and rapper controversial over his history of
domestic violence, sampled “Fast Car” in his song “Run Away.”

Minaj, one of the top women in hip-hop, has already released three songs
from “Queen” including “Bed,” a tropically infused, sexually charged duet
with pop singer Ariana Grande, and “Chun-Li,” a nod to Asian martial arts and
video-game culture.